India
The BJP was quick to pounce on the Congress, pointing to the overlapping roles of Joseph as an evidence of the Congress’s complicity in the Rs 3,600-crore scam
New Delhi: Is the Congress fighting middleman Christian Michel’s legal battle in India? At least it seems so. Aljo K Joseph, who represents the British national in India, is also the national in-charge of the legal department of the Congress’s youth wing.
Joseph appeared for Michel in front of special CBI judge Arvind Kumar on Wednesday. Joseph has boldly declared his association with the Youth Congress in his biodata on Twitter.
The BJP was quick to pounce on the Congress, pointing to the overlapping roles of Joseph as an evidence of the Congress’s complicity in the Rs 3,600-crore scam.
BJP leader Suresh Nakhua said, “This association of Joseph with Congress, which is led by out-on-bail Rahul Gandhi and was earlier led by out-on-bail Sonia Gandhi, leads to all the dots getting connected. He is seen on social media with one Ahmad Patel and a certain Kapil Sibal. Now, I want to know if AP and Fam (mentioned in Michel’s diary) are the same Ahmad Patel and the family?”
The BJP’s national in-charge of IT, Amit Malviya said it showed deep links of the Congress with the AgustaWestland scam. “The admissions made in Italian courts named Sonia Gandhi and Ahmad Patel. Now, AK Joseph representing extradited Michel tells us a story of how well-oiled and seamless the machinery of kickbacks worked under the Congress regime,” Malviya said.
Michel had allegedly worked to help AgustaWestland, owned by Italian defence company Finmeccanica, to bag a deal for 12 AW101 choppers, to be used by VVIPs in February 2010. The enforcement directorate had charged Michel for having received €30 million or over Rs 200 crore from Finmeccanica for bribing Indian bureaucrats, politicians and Indian Air Force officials.
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